A service is being created on the basis of the unified platform for state services and information systems of government bodies "Gostech", which will collect and process anonymized data on the location of subscribers received from mobile operators. It will become part of the "state data lake", the law on which was adopted in the summer.
The development of the service has been discussed for quite a long time, at least over the past year, said Karen Kazaryan, General Director of the Internet Research Institute. In his opinion, the desire to collect anonymous data on the location of subscribers from telecom operators could be the reason for the appearance of the bill on the so-called "state data lake".
The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of Russia told Forbes about how one of the possible versions of the law "On Personal Data" can be implemented using the example of anonymized location data.
Thanks to the use of anonymized data, the state will be able to make more effective decisions. This will allow, for example, to determine where there is a need for the construction of schools, kindergartens, new roads and other infrastructure facilities. It will also help to provide assistance to victims of emergencies more quickly, identify the most relevant support measures and their location, and much more.
Currently, the publication writes, the state acquires geodata from telecom operators. For example, the Moscow government uses this information to plan the development of the city, including to assess the load on the transport infrastructure.
This data is statistics that shows how many people were at a particular point at a particular time. In fact, this is a heat map.
The creation of such a service will lead to the fact that the state will receive this data from mobile operators free of charge. This may lead to a reduction in the income of mobile companies.
A source from one of the telecom operators told Forbes that the terms of data transfer to the "state data lake" are currently being discussed.
But for some telecom operators, it is already obvious that this creates an additional burden on them, requiring new solutions and investments.
Alexey Muntyan, an expert in personal data protection and co-founder of RPPA, claims that anonymizing geolocation data does not guarantee its complete anonymity. In his opinion, there is a possibility of reverse matching of this data with specific users of mobile devices.
Thus, geolocation data retains its ability to identify a user if it can be matched with other data.
Earlier it was reported that from 2025 the cost of mobile Internet services in Russia may increase due to the transition to domestically produced equipment. Until 2027, the country plans to allocate more than 16 billion rubles for the development, testing and implementation of its own base stations for 2G, 4G and 5G networks. By 2029, the share of such stations should be 100%, which means a complete rejection of the use of Nokia, Ericsson and other foreign manufacturers' towers within four years.
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